Protecting Airport Communities from Particle Emissions Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4068 To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct a study relating to ultrafine particles, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 22, 2021 Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mrs. STEEL, Mr. PETERS, Ms. MENG, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. JAYAPAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- structure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis- tration to conduct a study relating to ultrafine particles, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Airport 4 Communities from Particle Emissions Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jul 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4068.IH H4068 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4068 IH SEC. 2. AIRBORNE ULTRAFINE PARTICLE STUDY. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 2 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 3 Federal Aviation Administration, jointly with the Adminis- 4 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall enter 5 into an agreement with an eligible institution of higher 6 education to conduct a study examining airborne ultrafine 7 particles and their effect on human health. 8 (b) SCOPE OF STUDY.—The study conducted under 9 subsection (a) shall— 10 (1) summarize the relevant literature and stud- 11 ies done on airborne ultrafine particles worldwide; 12 (2) focus on large hub commercial airports in— 13 (A) Seattle; 14 (B) Boston; 15 (C) Chicago; 16 (D) New York; 17 (E) the Northern California Metroplex; 18 (F) Phoenix; 19 (G) the Southern California Metroplex; 20 (H) the District of Columbia; and 21 (I) Atlanta; 22 (3) examine airborne ultrafine particles and 23 their effect on human health, including— 24 (A) characteristics of UFPs present in the 25 air; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jul 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4068.IH H4068 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4068 IH (B) spatial and temporal distributions of 1 UFP concentrations; 2 (C) primary sources of UFPs; 3 (D) the contribution of aircraft and airport 4 operations to the distribution of UFP con- 5 centrations when compared to other sources; 6 (E) potential health effects associated with 7 elevated UFP exposures, including outcomes re- 8 lated to cardiovascular disease, respiratory in- 9 fection and disease, degradation of 10 neurocognitive functions, and other health ef- 11 fects, that have been considered in previous 12 studies; and 13 (F) potential UFP exposures, especially to 14 susceptible and vulnerable groups; 15 (4) identify measures, including the use of sus- 16 tainable aviation fuels, intended to reduce emissions 17 from aircraft and airport operations and assess po- 18 tential effects on emissions related to UFPs; and 19 (5) identify information gaps related to under- 20 standing relationships between UFP exposures and 21 health effects, contributions of aviation-related emis- 22 sions to UFP exposures, and the effectiveness of 23 mitigation measures. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jul 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4068.IH H4068 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4068 IH (c) ELIGIBILITY.—An institution of higher education 1 is eligible to conduct the study if the institution— 2 (1) is located in one of the areas identified in 3 subsection (b); 4 (2) applies to the Administrator of the Federal 5 Aviation Administration in a timely fashion; 6 (3) demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Ad- 7 ministrator that the institution is qualified to con- 8 duct the study; 9 (4) agrees to submit to the Administrator, not 10 later than 2 years after entering into an agreement 11 under subsection (a), the results of the study, in- 12 cluding any source materials used; and 13 (5) meets such other requirements as the Ad- 14 ministrator determines necessary. 15 (d) COORDINATION.—The Administrator may coordi- 16 nate with the Administrator of the Environmental Protec- 17 tion Agency, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 18 and any other agency head whom the Administrator deems 19 appropriate to provide data and other assistance necessary 20 for the study. 21 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after submis- 22 sion of the results of the study by the institution of higher 23 education, the Administrator shall submit to the Com- 24 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jul 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4068.IH H4068 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4068 IH Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 1 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 2 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the 3 study including the results of the study submitted under 4 subsection (c)(4) by the institution of higher education. 5 (f) DEFINITION.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘ultrafine 6 particle’’ and ‘‘UFP’’ mean particles with diameters less 7 than or equal to 100 nanometers. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jul 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4068.IH H4068 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS